HARDWOOD RECORD 



23 



Convention of Indiana HardWood Association. 



The ninth annual I'ouvontion of the In- 

 <liana Hanlwoml Liiniberineu 's Association 

 met iu the small diuingroom of the Grand 

 Hotel, Indianapolis, Ind., on Thursday, Jan. 

 je, 1908, at 2 ji. ni.. with President C. H. 

 Barnaby iu the chair. In calling the nicet- 

 iiii: to onler he saiil: 



President's Address. 



<;fntlemen. we are off: the game is on. and it 

 Is ni.v great pleasure to announce this ninth 

 annual convention of tlio Indiana Hardwood 

 Lumbermen's Association, and to welcome so 

 many guests, for it ts a feature of our organiza- 

 tion to get as many of the old lumbermen l>ack 

 as possible and all those engaged in the trade, 

 whether In Indiana i>r not. II is a source of 

 great pride and pleasure to all of our associa- 

 tion members, especially to the officers of this 

 association, to see old faces with us every year — 

 from New York and Koston. the Sonth and all 

 over. 



There Is one thing I am sorry has to tnki' 

 place this aftermxm. but it is customary. I do 

 not know bow it ever siarti'il. but ii has 



H r. \i;\.\i!v. i;ki;i:.\( .vsi'i.i:. 



PI!ESII)i:.\T. 



always liei-u . iisi.miaiy for the chairman to give 

 an annual address. If I had the fellow here this 

 afternoon that started that custom I wouldn't 

 do a thing to him '. .\s I don't care to establish 

 a new precedent. I will ask you to bear with mc 

 for about threi- minutes until I get this dojic 

 over. I have no new Ideas, ynu understand, lor 

 all of you know about everything that Is in it 

 and more too: but I've got to read it. so here 

 goes : 



Till' close of I'.HI- has brought lbc> prophesied 

 ■ essatlon of our prosperity. The causes of this 

 have iM'en many. We have been speiuling our 

 working lapltal through expansion, permanent 

 improvements and speiulatlon. ,\ot only as In- 

 dividuals, but this Is also true municipally, with 

 mate and govi'rnment. "I'ls said by good authori- 

 ties there have been mrui' Improvements, resi- 

 dences, otlice buildings. I'aclorles, railroads, 

 streets, public highways, waterways, parks, gov- 

 ernment buildings, battleships— In fact, every- 

 thing that entails the expenditure of money — In 

 the past eight years than have ever previously 

 taken place in two generations. These Invest- 

 nients are all well and we can stand them, but 

 the speculative feature Is disastrous. .Millions 

 U|)on millions of dollars have been Invested by 

 all I'lasses of our peojile In gold mines, silver, 

 lead and zinc, oil well.s and watered stock : more 



ground floor propositions oflTered to an unsus- 

 pecting and prosperous public than ever before. 

 With the above conditions can we wonder at 

 the present state of affairs'; Many of us pre- 

 dicted these same conditions a year ago. Our 

 country, however. Is still prosperous. And why 

 not'; With her wonderful wealth of natural re- 

 sources, her Industrious and wideawake people 

 and boundless room for expansion, she ought to 

 and will weather this and many other so-called 

 panh's. There Is probably no Industry more 

 able to meet the situation than the hardwood 

 trade. We doubt if there is any commodity tluit 

 will suffer less slumpage in valuation than hard- 

 wood lumber. We therefore think it the height 

 of folly for any hardwood man to sacrifice his 

 holdings. There Is no better investment today 

 than hardwood stumpage and hardwood lumber, 

 and we believe that the fortunate owners of this 

 commodity realize as much. We Indiana lum- 

 bermen, with our Indiana conceit, are optimistic 

 as to the future and are willing to bide the time 

 when the consumption of hardwood resumes. 



K.MLRO-VDS .\-\0 LkOISLATIOV. 



<uir association has been watchful and alert 

 to rates and railroad matters. Several decisions 

 of importance have been made by our slate rail- 

 road commission affecting tlie hardwood lumber- 

 men, especially so iu demurrage matters and log 

 rates. Kates for hauling logs are now practically 

 on a mileage basis, and it is no l<»nger necessar.v 

 to have ;in annual fight with your railroad for 

 ct|uitabie rates. We have also given our moral 

 :ind linancial support toward Interstate rulings. 



.Vmong the many rulings asked of our state 

 railroad commission, as well as interstate, not a 

 few of them have been unfair and no doubt un- 

 constitutional. We should therefore be careful 

 and considerate in our demands, granting the 

 railroads a fair compensation and profit for their 

 labor and Investment. Unless railroad invest- 

 ments d<) prove profitable we can scarcely expect 

 the management to give us first-class and up-to- 

 date service. Many railroad and legislative mat- 

 ters liave been ably cared for by our esteemed 

 member. Mr. tluthrle. 



I.\Sl'i:CTION UUI.ES. 



Our association probably did as much or more 

 toward the change of the rules of Inspecthui 

 made by the National Hardwood Lumber .\sso<'la- 

 tiou at their annual meeting last May in At- 

 lantic City than any otiier individual associa- 

 tion -in fact, ■the oak rule " Is practically what 

 we asked for. t_>dd lengths of lural>er being ad- 

 tultteil and the dlvlsicm on the half are un- 

 doubteilly fair and cipiltable. While possibly the 

 rules are not yet perfect, we arc on the right 

 road and tlie time Is not far distant when we 

 will have the long-talked-of and much-desired uni- 

 form Inspection of hardwood lumber. 



ICven now we are not at the mercy of the 

 unscrupulous buyers If we are careful in basing 

 otir sales on the National rules of itispei-tion. 

 We most heartily rectmimenfl the approval of the 

 .N'atlonal rules of inspect loti as adopted at tin- 

 .Vtlantic City meeting Inst May. 



KOBESTKV. 



For many years lumbermen took but little In- 

 terest In the subject of forestry. We are glad to 

 note that at last this very Important subject 

 Is receiving atti'ntlim by the lumbermen, and 

 therefore great strides have been luade ahmg this 

 line. We are beginning to recognize the Im- 

 portance of conservative and econiuuical lumber- 

 ing. Our assiiciallim. as well as our state. Is 

 ably represented by our worthy niemlwr. .Mr. 

 Samuel Kurkliolder. 



MKMItKKSIIlr. 



One year ago we thought we had nearly every 

 hardwood lumberman of the state enrolUMl. It 

 Is our plejisure to announce that thirty-two mem- 

 bers have been achled through the unceasing 

 efforts of our eOU-lent secretary, who In not un- 

 worthy of great credit. If any member present 



knows of any hardwood lumberman In the state 

 who Is not one of our number, we will ask him 

 to kindly give his name to Mr. I'ritchard. 



KlNANCB. 



It has been the subject of no little pride that 

 we are able to carry on our association work with 

 the very small dues of $2 per year. As long 

 as all expenses can be met on this nominal sum 

 we recommend the dues remain as they are. 

 Ci.osix<; KK.M.VI1KS. 



With this the close of my second term of 

 presidency, and before turning the office over to 

 my successor, grant me the privilege of thanking 

 the officers and members for their lojal and un- 

 swerving support. I appreciate the pleasure and 

 honor of being your chairman, and I thank you. 



I would Just like to say, gentlemen, that here 

 Is a gavel which was presented to us a year ago 

 by Mr. .1. V>. Marls, of this city. It was made 

 out of the black walnut taken from one of the 

 sills in the building which was known as the 

 Linden Hotel of Indianapolis. This building was 

 torn df>\vu years ago and Mr. Maris bought the 

 walnut timber and had it made Into various 

 things. Some of it even went to Mexico, but 

 this bit was made into a gavel for this assocla- 



,1. .M. I'KITlHAItl'. INIHANAl'OLIS, 

 SECUKTAItY. 



lion, and If it cotdd talk, gentlemen, some of you 

 old-timers wiudd have to get out of the room, 

 [Laughter. J 



We are now ready for the re|)ort of Secretary 

 I'rltihard. 



Secretary's Report, 



Mr. rresldent and IJentlemen : The report of 

 the secretary would have lieen quite brief If It 

 had not been for the necessity of attaching a tail 

 to the kite. I thcmght 1 had the names of all 

 new members listed In my paper in which I Lave 

 given an account of the secretary's work, but 

 since that time reports have been coming In 

 pretty fast, and It has been necessary to make 

 some extension. 



The year lilit" marks an epoch In the history 

 of the Indiana Hardwood Lumbermen's Assocla- 

 tlcui. The nieiiibirsblp passed the century mark 

 and now totals 111. 



Those present at the llrst meeting, called by 

 Sam Iturkholder nine years ago. were enthusias- 

 tic, liut they were so few In number that It la 

 said that they gave the porter of the hotel a 

 dollar not to let the newspaper men know of 

 the meeting. 



Thirty-two new names have been enrolled 

 since our last meeting— Just twice the number 

 present at the llrsl meeting nine years aii.i. The 



